The Adventures of the Everyday Fangirl is happy to present this excerpt from The Pain Season, Book II of the Covalent Series by Libby Doyle.
Autumnal Equinox, Chapter 1
The axial rift opened with a ripping, clattering sound that fell in on itself, like a record playing backwards. Barakiel stood near the rusted tangle of train tracks behind Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station. When a dozen demons emerged from the rift he smiled with relief. No Corrupted. None of his father’s dark warriors had made it through. The demons might be sturdy and vicious, but they were dim-witted. This fight would be routine, and then he could get home to Zan. He didn’t let himself think about what might happen when he revealed himself to her. He had a battle to deal with first.
I cannot love her if I let myself be killed by demons.
The location was also a relief. Usually when the yellow-eyed beasts shot through the axial rift he had to draw them away from population. Here, regional-rail trains were passing nearby, but there were no pedestrians. And the hour suited him. The equinox had come at night, around 10:30. Even if Pellus had not been there to conceal his activities, it was unlikely the passengers would be able to see much of anything occurring so deep in the rail yard. Pellus was there, of course, to create his curtain of refracted light that would hide the battle from weak human eyes. Barakiel could depend on him.
Thank Balance this will be easy, after all that has happened.
Shortly after the demons emerged, the warrior’s relief evaporated. Instead of attacking Barakiel, a handful peeled off, running in the direction of the city streets. The others headed for the section of the yard where the passenger trains were coming and going. Barakiel froze for a second to weigh the threats, before he moved toward the trains to pursue the greater number of demons.
I hope you can conceal this imbroglio, Pellus.
The warrior was about to fall upon a demon with his sword when he saw another attempting to rip up the tracks in front of an approaching train.
What in all the realms?
The train could be derailed if the monstrous creature finished, so Barakiel sped to fling it away from the tracks. As he raised his sword to take its head, another demon ripped apart a switching station. Yet another threw chunks of corroded metal. Some pieces fell onto a set of tracks on which a train approached. The warrior killed the first beast then ran to the blocked tracks, hurrying to clear the debris before the train reached that spot. Other demons ran amok in the rail yard, destroying any structure they could see. Anxiety gripped him.
What are you trying to do to now, father? Murder innocent humans to torment me?
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Coming Halloween 2016…The Pain Season: Book II of the Covalent Series
WARNING: This book contains foul language, violence, and explicit sex. Adults only, please! Although not a cliffhanger, this is not a stand-alone novel. The story began in The Passion Season and will continue in The Vengeance Season.
The Pain Season
Tonight’s the night. Rainer Barakiel is going to tell me all his secrets. I thought I’d be excited, but I feel like someone shoved a knife into my gut.
Heh. Fitting, considering I met Rainer because of his expertise in edged weapons. The daggers used in that ritual sacrifice turned into our best lead, thanks to him. What kind of omen is it, that I met the love of my life because someone found a human spleen in the bushes?
I didn’t expect someone like him. When he opened his door I couldn’t talk, I was so stunned. God, how I flirted with him. Hell of a way for an FBI agent to act. I didn’t want to face that he was hiding things from me.
What if he has something to do with the murder?
I’m being paranoid. He’s denied being a criminal and I believe him. I don’t see how my instincts could be so wrong. He can’t be bad. He can’t.
He’s hiding things from me, but he loves me. I feel it. Maybe he didn’t expect to fall in love with me, but he did, and now he wants out. He’s going to confess, leave it all behind. For me.
C’mon, O’Gara. Get ahold of yourself.
I wonder, after he tells me all his secrets, will this become a wacky story we love to tell? Or a story I tell only to myself, alone in a stale-smelling apartment, stewing in pain? The story of how my heart got damaged beyond repair.
The Pain Season is available for pre-order via Amazon, iTunes, Barnes & Noble and Kobo.
Available now…The Passion Season: Book I of the Covalent Series
WARNING: This book contains foul language, violence, explicit sex, and descriptions of sexual violence. Adults only, please. Be aware, this is not a stand-alone novel. The story continues in The Pain Season: Book II of the Covalent Series. Release date: Halloween 2016.
The Passion Season
A gruesome crime brings them together. Will his secrets rip them apart?
He is Barakiel. Warrior. Exile. Hopeless romantic. Barakiel is Covalent, a race of ancient beings who use their great power to keep the elemental forces of Creation and Destruction in Balance. The Covalent Council exiled Barakiel to the Earthly Realm as the price of the treachery of his father, Lucifer, who wages perpetual war against it. Lucifer also relentlessly pursues his son. The Council thinks Lucifer views his son’s power as a threat, but Barakiel knows his father seeks to destroy even the memory of love.
She is Alexandra O’Gara. FBI Agent. Army veteran. Recovering drunk. Zan’s troubled past left her with little interest in men, but she had never encountered anyone like the stunning Rainer Barakiel. Zan believes Barakiel is a wealthy businessman with expertise in edged weapons who can help her with a case. From the moment she meets him she wants him more than she’s ever wanted anything, but her intense attraction frightens her as much as it thrills her.
This is their love story. As Zan’s deepening feelings for Barakiel lead her to confront her emotional damage, he struggles to meet the demands of his home world so he will be free to love her, and to reveal his true nature. Through the gruesome crime that first brought Zan to his door, Barakiel learns that his presence in the Earthly Realm has placed some of its most vulnerable citizens in danger. Compelled to protect them, he undertakes a series of duties he may not survive, even as Zan rescues him from centuries of a deadened heart.
The Passion Season (enrolled in KDP Select until Oct. 30) via Amazon.
Libby Doyle
Libby Doyle is the pen name of an attorney and former journalist who took a walk around the corporate world and didn’t like it. She escapes the mundane by writing extravagant yarns, filled with sex and violence. She loves absurd humor, travel, punk rock, and her husband.
Writing novels is Libby’s latest adventure in a life that has been filled with them. She knows she’s a lucky woman, to have so many memories that feed her imagination.
She’s stood atop a hill in Connemara in a cold wind, watching sunlight sparkle off the pristine sea below. She’s crested a trail after a grueling hike to find the glory of the Continental Divide spread before her. She’s been followed by a howler monkey in a Mexican jungle, shared the midday meal with Buddhist monks in Korea, and been pummeled by an opponent in a martial arts test in Japan. She’s trekked for days among the Himalayas, mountains so high and timeless they made her feel completely insignificant, a wonderful feeling.
She’s married to a man who is funny and kind and patient enough to listen to her chatter on about her characters. Libby feels like they’re her friends. She’s confident they’ll keep you entertained. Through her fanciful tales, she hopes they speak to you.
Ways to Connect with Libby Doyle:
- Website: http://libbydoyle.com
- Blog: http://libbydoyle.com/blog.html
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- Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01CUPIZOU
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- You Tube Channel: https://goo.gl/6UeUKD
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